Foreign professional qualification Recognition as a teacher

For recognition, the Regional State Office for School and Education Lüneburg checks on the basis of your certificates whether or to what extent your foreign qualification corresponds to a teacher training in Lower Saxony. In order for the professional qualification obtained abroad to be recognised, teachers must meet the following requirements:

1. the professional qualification obtained entitles the holder to practise as a teacher in the country in which it was obtained, and
2. there are no significant differences between the professional qualification obtained in the country of origin and the teacher training in Lower Saxony.

In Lower Saxony, the teaching qualification for a teaching profession is obtained by a Master's degree (Master of Education) and a preparatory service (Referendariat) with final state examination.

• For the teaching profession at primary schools, two subjects must be studied to the same extent, whereby at least one of the subjects taught must be German or mathematics.
• For the teaching profession at Hauptschule and Realschule as well as the teaching profession at Gymnasien, two teaching subjects must also be proven to the same extent.
• For the teaching profession for special needs education, there must be two special education subjects and one teaching subject.
• For the teaching profession at vocational schools, a vocational specialisation and a teaching subject must be available.

Compared to a teacher training course in Lower Saxony, there are therefore often significant differences. Below are some examples of significant differences to teacher training in Lower Saxony:

• A second subject is missing,
• the degree corresponds to a Bachelor's level,
• the subject German was studied as a foreign language,
• a large number of subjects were studied, there was no focus (applies in particular to primary school),
• there is a lack of practical school training comparable to the Lower Saxony preparatory service after graduation.

If there are significant differences, a compensatory measure (adaptation period or aptitude test) is required before the professional qualification acquired abroad is recognised. The scope of the compensatory measure is determined by the Regional State Office for Schools and Education Lüneburg in a decision.

The recognition of the foreign professional qualification is also carried out by means of a decision.

The responsibility lies with the Regional State Office for Schools and Education Lüneburg.

In order for the professional qualification obtained abroad to be recognised, teachers must meet the following requirements:

• the professional qualification obtained entitles the holder to practise as a teacher in public schools in the country in which it was obtained, and
• there are no significant differences between the professional qualification obtained in the country of origin and the teacher training in Lower Saxony.

The application for recognition of the professional qualification must be accompanied by the following documents:

1. an informal application, which also mentions the teaching profession to which the assessment is to relate,
2. a tabular presentation of your educational and professional career written in German,
3. proof of identity (identity card, passport, residence permit, etc.) and, if applicable, proof of name change (e.g. marriage certificate),
4. Proof of your university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur or a comparable degree),
5. Evidence of formal qualifications:
   1. higher education diplomas,
   2. Certificates showing the course contents of your completed training for obtaining the diplomas (e.g. study book, annex to the diploma, transcript of records),
   3. other evidence that must be acquired in addition to university studies in order to obtain a professional qualification as a teacher in the country of origin (e.g. CAP, QTS + Induction Period, Definitivat, Teaching Certificate),
6. Proof of your work as a teacher at state schools in Germany and/or abroad (required information: duration, scope of employment, grade levels and subjects in which teaching took place),
7. an official certificate of good conduct (possibly with translation),
8. the declaration form,
9. if you do not reside in Germany or another member state of the European Union or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland: proof that you want to work as a teacher in Lower Saxony,
10. if applicable, an informal power of attorney, if another person (e.g. spouse/partner, employees of the counselling centres) may also receive information on your application.

The documents No. 3 to 6 must be submitted in the form of an officially certified copy of the respective original. Of the documents No. 5 and 6, additional translations into German are required. The translations must be prepared by publicly appointed or sworn interpreters or translators. The publicly appointed/sworn interpreters/translators in Germany can be found here.

An "official certification" confirms that the copy corresponds to the original. Municipal authorities (e.g. a town hall) and notaries may issue certified copies.

If a certificate evaluation from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) is already available, it should be submitted as a simple copy.

There are no deadlines to be observed.

No later than one month after receipt of your application, the competent body will inform you of the receipt of the documents and request any missing documents.

After submission of the complete documents, the processing takes place within the next 3 to 4 months. In individual cases, this processing time will be extended.

Action before the Administrative Court.

The service points of the network "Integration through Qualification" (IQ Network) will be happy to advise and accompany you before, during and after the recognition procedure.

Ministry of Culture of Lower Saxony

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.